Rose-buds, Daisies, and Brownies...oh my!

Today our family hosted our first ever Girl Scout meeting.  We belong to a unique multi-level troop with twelve girls at all stages of Girl Scouting.  Clare is at the first tier, a Daisy.  After that comes the Brownies, then Juniors, and it goes on from there.  We have representatives in our troop from almost all levels. Rose-buds are the 3 year-olds (this includes our Dorothy) who are siblings and who participate in the activities and are honorary Girl Scouts (Rose-bud is not an official level of scouting :) ).  Our troop is also unique in that we don't meet weekly, but we are each responsible for doing the activities with our girls during the week.  Once a month the whole troop gets together for fun and learning.  And that happened at our house today!

In preparation I made Clare's favorite fall treat: pumpkin chocolate chip bars (yum!).  Girls and their moms began arriving at 1:30 p.m.  What fun we had!  We decorated faux pumpkins and the creativity displayed at my dining room table was fabulous!  We had pumpkins turning into puppies, cats, Frankenstein, princesses, and just some fun, funky ones as well.  After everyone snacked and crafted to their hearts content, we moved into a time of sharing.  The rule was that whoever was holding the pine cone could speak, so the girls raised their hands and the pine cone was passed around.  It was a good time to get to know a little bit more about the girls that shared.  After that, we did an activity called Surprise Box.  I had decorated a box with a lid and Clare hid a stuffed puppy inside.  The girls played 20 questions to guess what was inside whilel Clare held the box and answered their questions.  The girl who was the first to guess correctly will take the box home and bring it to the next meeting with her surprise inside.  We finished our time with learning some flag facts and doing the Pledge of Allegiance.  

All the snacks were devoured, friendships were made and strengthened, the girls learned and laughed, and the Moms were able to talk and enjoy one another too.  I loved seeing our little house packed to the gills with happy, laughing children.    

Here is the craft table where the creativity flowed!

Our three kids during the share time. Even Stephen, the only boy present, was allowed to share!

Some of the girls and their pumpkin masterpieces. My girls both made theirs into puppies...surprise, surprise!